Redux: What is so wrong about encouraging the Ten Commandments as a moral code for western culture?

TL;DR: I don't think that the 10 commandments are a particularly bad set of moral rules. For the time they were written, they were revolutionary. I just think we can do better.

Well my problem with the first statement is that I don't believe there's any good reason to believe in the Exodus from Egypt (in fact there is good reason to suspect that it didn't happen). I don't know whether or not there were Hebrew slaves in Egypt (there very well might have been), but I actively do not believe that God had anything to do with their escape. There's also the fact that I don't believe God exists. This means the first statement is pretty much pointless for me and I don't see why it's necessary for a moral code. I also think that this statement suggests that God is against slavery is an enormous stretch. Why'd he only free the Hebrews then?

My problem with the second one is that I don't think anything should be worshiped. I agree with the guy in the video that worshiping things like money and fame creates a bad society, but I also think that worshiping God can cause the same sort of problem. I think the best way to create a consistent, working, moral code is by using reason and evidence. I don't think a moral code should be a static thing that was proclaimed by some being whose existence we can't even demonstrate; it should be alive, it should change as we learn more about the world. I think there is a fundamental problem with the belief that morality was "solved" 2000-3000 years ago.

I agree with the third one. But I think it's important to note that this provides a potential problem with using the commandments as your moral code: bad translation. Why did God have the original version of his moral code written in a language that would be effectively dead in a thousand years or so?

I still think the fourth one is stupid. Or at the very least, poorly phrased. I don't think you need to stop working one day out of the week to achieve what the guy in the video is saying that this commandment achieves. Vacations would do the same thing. Also, workaholics usually get to retire earlier than other's because they've saved up so much money. Also some people like their jobs and are less happy when they're not working. And most importantly: if I were to come up with the 10 most important rules to create a better society, this would not be anywhere close to making the cut.

I more or less agree with the fifth one, but I have a huge problem with the way the guy in the video defended it. It might just be the way he phrased it and maybe I'm reading too much into it, but he was said if a boy grew up without a father, or a girl grew up without a father, that bad things would happen. This suggests to me that he doesn't believe two women can be effective parents, which is a ridiculous view. Also he said that god wouldn't command us to love someone that it is emotionally or psychologically impossible for us to love... but five seconds earlier he pointed out that god commanded us to love our neighbors and strangers. What's the deal with that?

Obviously agree with the sixth one, but the translation problem has come up again.

More or less agree with the seventh one. I don't think adultery is that big of a deal though. It's certainly not as bad as murder or stealing. I also don't like the exclusion of homosexual parents.

Obviously agree with the eighth one. However, his defense of biblical slavery was abhorrent. The slavery that was permitted in the Bible is not consistent with a moral society. People are never other people's property. It's never okay to beat someone without an inch of their life. Also, he flat out said that the 8th commandment was open-ended and then said that the 8th commandment "expressly forbids" kidnapping people into slavery. What's the deal with that?

Obviously agree with the ninth one, but the idea that a person who gave false testimony would be liable to the punishment of the accused is ridiculous.

I get the idea behind the tenth one, but I don't like it being "forbidden." Coveting is only a problem once you act on your desire. It's certainly a good idea to avoid coveting if you want to avoid committing crimes, but if you can control your temptation, then no harm done.

/r/DebateReligion Thread